Hey y'all. What comes to your mind when you hear "field marketing"? Reason I'm asking... I'm at a crossroads right now with my role. I'm a Marketing Manager. On the one hand I'm managing an Inbound team doing content and social media (10 people in total), on the other I'm hosting a series of live streams for my company, building out a network of contacts that way, and I'm having some success booking meetings for Sales (we're a B2B software development services company). So this "networking" part of my role has somehow grown bigger and bigger and although I thought my natural next step was Head of Marketing—bigger team, full responsibility for the inbound pipeline, budgeting, higher-level strategy, etc.—my leader has signaled to me that perhaps I'd like to try my hand at something he calls field marketing. From what I can gather that's more about going "out there" to build business more directly. My streams fall under that, as would other online events like webinars (and I could build a team around that), but it would also involve potentially doing some on-site events in our target markets... What I know for sure is that I love the live streams part of my work, and I like that I'm having more of a direct impact, but I worry that by turning down Head of Marketing and being more "on the front lines" I'll be taking a step sideways but not forwards. And I have a feeling this will mean I won't be involved with inbound so much anymore; maybe even lose access to part of my current team to build out something new. So I'm looking for any thoughts you might be able to share here. Especially around field marketing, which I don't have a lot of experience with—even though it seems like I might have started to do it by accident. (and I realize not all of it is strictly related to content but I hope it's relevant enough)

Couple thoughts... I'm planning to hire a Field Marketing Manager for my team soon and agree that it's kind of a nebulous term (like all marketing titles lol - choose your own adventure!). I envision the remit being virtual and in-person events as well as sales enablement, working in close partnership with our sales team on all marketing activities that engage the customer directly. In terms of career path - I think it can be a really cool opportunity to build out a new function, and a great way to position yourself for a leadership position in the future (whether at your current company or elsewhere). I went through something similar-ish years ago when my team started to grow and I had the opportunity to shift from managing a LOT of random stuff to focusing on content, and while it was challenging to feel like I was giving up control of things I used to own, it was ultimately great to be able to focus and dive deep into a specific area. (I was also only sort of qualified for that new leadership role. Fake it 'til you make it!!!) You could also consider taking this moment to look for Head of Marketing roles elsewhere, but I personally found it really helpful and fulfilling to take on a more focused role within my current company before I decided to look further afield. It felt like a safe way to learn something new 🙂

wow, I'm pleasantly surprised you managed to understand my situation so well from those ramblings 😅 that's exactly it, I'd be giving up what I know, a looot of various things within content + social media, and in return focusing on what I've found most exciting thus far... and learning new things on top of that I just worry I'd miss leadership too much. I love my team, they're growing, getting promoted, I'm so proud to see it. leaving them to build a new one feels like it would leave a void

> I just worry I'd miss leadership too much. I love my team, they're growing, getting promoted, I'm so proud to see it. leaving them to build a new one feels like it would leave a void. <<

Good leadership involves helping to develop people enough that they can make you dispensable. If they always need you, then you’ve not reached the final stage of leadership and their learning and progress are capped by you and your needs. It’s sort of like parents with empty nest syndrome — yes, you get the feels, but you deal, because that’s part of helping to grow people. One of the things that makes me proud is seeing my teams thrive even after I leave. If it worked only with me there, then what I built wasn’t strong enough to be meaningful to our company. And if you’re building a new function and doing learning that resonates with you, you’ll be plenty busy. Plus, exploring new areas of marketing will make you better qualified to become a CMO, if that’s what you want.

I never thought of it like that - that a variety of experience would better prepare me for being top leadership. And yet it rings so true! Thanks for taking the time to respond Maggie, both your and Dana's replies have given me a lot of perspective 🙏

My ex-colleague and close friend is a field marketer and is currently building a team at a startup. Its content adjacent. We worked closely together. Her role was more closely nestled with sales. She loved it. It's similar to work I have done in the past -- I have no desire to do that kind of work again. Field marketing involves a lot of event planning work -- so you have tight deadlines and urgent deliverables. Also travel. You also need to be relatively outgoing if you're doing in-person events and always 'on.' It can be fun and definitely is adrenaline-filled but it can also be tiring and draining in ways that content work might not be for you. But I spent 12 years in a front-facing revenue role where I had to network and gladhand a lot! I loved it for a good part of that time but post-pandemic it changed for me. I want to be less front-facing for the next little while. The one thing that I would be sure to know before taking it on is what the expectations will be for you around pipeline generation. So, I said my ex colleague and that was, in part, because there were expectations that in her first few events she generate more revenue than she did. And she added a lot of pipeline -- but the people in charge had never managed field marketing before and didn't understand that her numbers were really good. So, there was a sense that the company was not getting enough value from the investments they were making in her and in in-person events. One danger is that you could get into a similar situation -- especially since you don't have the background in field marketing to be able to manage expectations. You would be learning it as you go. She also handled SDR email campaigns and swag offers for prospects. As well as webinars. Hope that helps!